Over The Edge
by hostilepistachio
Summary: REWORKED: Following the episode 'Prove It'. Firehouse 51's arsonist goes too far when he attacks the Firehouse's own. How will the relationships within the house cope with the potential loss of one of their co-workers?
1. False Call

**_A/N: Hey guys, I just redid this chapter slightly to include Shay in the ambulance call to make it more realistic. Hopefully you enjoy! New chapter up by the end of the day._**

_**Also, this isn't a songfic per se, but I highly recommend listening to this song. It relates to the story beautifully. HalfNoise - Don't Lie To Me. watch?v=t2as0Ypye9g**_

* * *

It was an early start for Dawson; Shay was making her wake up at a prompt 5:30am so they could get to the firehouse early and make their renowned Shawson pancakes before anyone else arrived, specifically Mouch. He ate like a mammoth in the morning.

Gabby grumbled out of bed to the constant calls from Shay, clearly uncertain of her reluctant promise to wake up especially early. Dawson reached for her phone and answered Shay's fifth call.

"…Urgmm."

"And a good morning to you too! You up yet? We gotta get going!" Leslie's ever so enthusiastic response to her tired groan just made Gabby loathe the idea of going to work even more.

"Fine, fine. Meet you at the station in half an hour. This is so not worth pancakes." Gabby muttered under her breath before getting changed. After reaching the fire station, it only took one look at her eager best friend to lift her spirits - Shay, armed with croissants and pain au chocolats, was clearly amused at forcing Dawson to wake up so early.

"I can't believe it! You made it!" Shay smiled and handed a yawning Dawson a croissant.

"I swear to get my revenge on you, Shay. One day." The girls laughed and walked into the fire station.

* * *

The pancakes went better than expected. As in, not _all_ of the mixture ended up on the ceiling as a result of Gabby's god-awful pancake flipping skills like usual. The women often liked to attempt to diffuse the tension in the firehouse by getting everyone together in the morning, this time eating pancakes. It made the house feel more like a family, especially due to the stress and anxiety Hadley and the arson attacks were causing on the group. Shay even saw Severide smile this morning - something she hadn't seen in the past few days.

The firemen gathered around the table and wolfed down the pancakes; the firehouse were also graced with the pleasure of witnessing Otis' snorting on numerous occasions as the results of eating and laughing at the same time. While cleaning up, Dawson nudged Shay.

"Told you this would work".

* * *

"Heads up, Casey. Need any help?" Dawson walked towards Casey, who was sitting by the table looking particularly puzzled at the newspaper crossword. Dawson smiled, loving how a burning building is a simple task for him compared to a crossword puzzle.

"'Under siege', six letters." Casey wondered aloud, eyes still fixed to the newspaper. Dawson walked over to the coffee machine while thinking.

"Uh… Harass?" Casey's exclamation of triumph under his breath from finishing the puzzle made her laugh before she offered to make him a coffee.

"Sure." Casey looked up at her, only just noticing the smile plastered across her face. "Oh, and thanks for those pancakes. But don't think I didn't notice the half pancake on the ceiling."

Casey and Dawson simultaneously looked up to the pancake still hanging off the ceiling and then back at each other. Dawson grimaced and they both laughed.

"Yeah… That was a result of an unreliable pancake pan. Not me." The co-workers chuckled. Dawson brought Casey his coffee and they both sat down together. Dawson loved being friends with Casey but couldn't help wondering what it would be like if they were something more, and always speculated whether Casey felt the same. She still held onto the hope that one day, something could actually happen. They'll always be hidden feelings.

Casey began to ask Dawson how someone who enjoyed cooking could ever be so terrible at the easiest recipe in the book before the all too familiar buzz of the alarm went off.

"Ambulance 61 needed at 27 Vernon Park Place. Possible suicide victim."

"Let's go!" Dawson called to a complaining Shay, who was just beginning to play a game of cards with Otis and Cruz.

Dawson said goodbye to Casey and walked with Shay towards the Ambulance.

* * *

The paramedics arrived at Vernon Park Place a few minutes later and Shay knocked on the door. Surprised at not hearing anything from inside, she knocked again. The girls looked at each other, concerned - they knew all too well how this kind of situation played through.

We need to get in, _now_." Shay tried breaking through the door with her shoulder, but to her surprise, upon impact she found the door was unlocked. Muttering under her breath in pain, she opened the door for Dawson and they both stepped inside the house.

"Paramedics! Anyone here?" Dawson called out, walking cautiously through the building with Shay. They readied themselves for the worst; blood spatters plastering a room, heart-breaking suicide notes, a kid too young to die. They'd seen it all before, and with this job you never knew what was coming next. They searched the whole of the house, still finding nothing.

"Fuck it. It's probably just a fake call again." Shay said irritably, angry at how people chose to waste paramedics' time for fun, especially when they saved lives everyday. And choosing to report a possible suicide was just sick.

Dawson nodded in agreement and radioed the station.

"Looks like it was a fake call. Heading back now."

Shay picked up their equipment as Dawson had one last look around each room.

They approached the door to leave just as a sudden flash of blinding light exploded in front of them.


	2. Broken

_**A/N: Here's chapter two! Sorry for the wait, hope you enjoy. **_

Casey sipped the cup of coffee Dawson made for him, smiling. Despite that fact Hallie had died months ago she was still looking after him, still caring - why she bothered, he didn't know. He felt safe around her, felt secure, like nothing was ever going to go wrong again. The lines dividing the friendship and romance between them were blurring fast, and Casey never knew if trying to destroy those lines would be the right move or not; did she still feel the same way? Or had she finally moved on? Her and Jay seemed to be happy together, and Casey cared too much to try and make everything more complicated and break them apart. Being in love with Gabriella Dawson was tearing him apart, but it was still the best thing that had ever happened to him.

* * *

Shay's mind awoke to a constant onslaught of burning heat all around her; it was unbearable. She struggled to open her eyes, her head throbbing with relentless strokes of pain, each throb more intolerable. Looking around, Shay realised how blurred her vision had become – it felt like her skull was covered in a thick blanket that banned all true images and thoughts. All she could make out were various indistinct hazy shapes accompanied by colours of orange and yellow dancing everywhere. The longer she kept her head still the faster her vision sharpened, and only then did the realisation of her situation sink in. Fire was everywhere.

Shay reached up to her head and felt the crimson blood stick to her hair. Wincing in pain, she lifted her body from the floor and looked around for any kind of exit from this horrible nightmare before she realised what she was leaving behind. Gabby. Her best friend. She almost left her best friend to die.

Panic, a mixture of her concern for her friend and the smoke that was closing in on her engulfed Shay as she went on hands and knees searching for Dawson. Rendered helpless from the grey haze, Shay resorted to calling out to find her friend.

"Gabby! Call out!" Shay cried as she felt the ash of the smoke suck into her lungs. Coughing, she stumbled into each room of the burning house longing to hear the cry of her co-worker. After minutes of only hearing the crackles and pops of the fire spreading through the house more intensely, Shay grew even more desperate. She had worked with firefighters long enough to know how fast flames can engulf a victim. She didn't even know how long she had been unconscious for! Gabby could be dead already. Tears stung Shay's eyes and she fell to the ground, knowing how impossible a crusade it was to find her. Wet, sticky tears trickled down her face in defeat.

Seconds later, Shay heard a weak, broken cry from the other side of the house. She lifted her head in disbelief and ran towards the last small shred of hope she had left.

"Gabby?!" Shay yelled, frantically searching for her friend.

Another feeble cry from her best friend broke through the spitting of the scorching fire, and Shay desperately tried to find where she was. She reached what she recognized as the back room, and heard the cry even closer. Dawson was here. Shay crawled around, hands fumbling in the darkness for even the slightest touch of a body, scared of what she might find.

After what seemed like hours of scrabbling and coughing, just as Shay was running out of hope once again, a hand clutched her wrist from the side of the debris.

* * *

"Shay…?" A voice croaked out from under a large, thick slab of concrete. It was Dawson.

Shay stared down at the concrete in horror, dreading what she knew lay underneath it.

"Fuck."

Realising that staring at something doesn't make it go away, Shay anxiously knelt down to stare right into her best friend's eyes, her bloodied body trapped directly underneath the mass of concrete. She could see tears drip from Dawson's pained eyes, breaking Shay's heart.

"...How bad is it?" Dawson choked, not needing to ask. She knew she was going to die.

Shay, with tears streaming from her eyes, tried to stay positive.

"You're going to be fine, ok? I'll get you out of this, I promise." Shay said, but her voice breaking didn't make it sound any more convincing.

"Don't lie to me." Dawson slurred.

Not hearing, Shay shoved herself up and got into position to lift the concrete.

"You ready?" Shay nervously checked before coughing violently, the smoke growing thicker.

"Shay, you know it's not going to work. It's too heavy." Dawson's suppressed voice wept.

Shay, ignoring her co-workers hopeless facts frenetically attempted to lift the slab, but all she could focus on were her friend's heart-breaking screams of pain as she tried to lift the weight off of her. The slab was far too dense for Shay to lift by herself, and the heat from the flames consuming the building was unbearable. The situation was hopeless. Nevertheless, Shay wouldn't give up; she attempted to block out the sound of the blood-curdling screams and repeatedly struggled to raise the concrete, as if she expected that the more she tried the lighter it would get. The more she knew how useless she was, the angrier she got at herself. Why couldn't she save her?!

Her arms aching, Shay slumped back down to Dawson to check her wounds. Her friend's forehead had a deep abrasion that was seeping blood across her nose and cheek, and her knee was awkwardly bent against the top of the concrete. Being a paramedic, Shay knew that treatment for those injuries alone would be impossible to consider under a slab of material, let alone treating the internal bleeding Dawson must be experiencing. Shay stared into Dawson's eyes, feeling completely powerless and incapable.

"Go." Dawson whispered, the pain of the weight slowly consuming her. Shay couldn't interpret what her best friend just asked of her, despite how she was just looking out for her.

"…What?" Shay questioned, wishing Dawson would rethink.

"The fire's spreading. You stay here with me, both of us die. Now go."

Shay looked hurt, not believing what her friend wanted. Dawson has always acted like a mother to her; it's time Shay returned the favour.

"No. I'm not leaving you!" Shay whimpered, tears not ceasing to stream down her cheeks. She knew how stupid she was acting, but would rather die with her best friend than leave her best friend to die.

"Shay, I'm not asking." Dawson's voice cracked as she fought to stay conscious.

"Gabby, I'm not asking for approval. I'm telling. You'd do the same for me."

_**Sorry for the intense ending!**_


	3. Too Innocent

**A/N: Firstly, I am super duper sorry for the long wait, its been absolutely ages! School has been crazy, not that that's any excuse. I owe a bigger sorry to stagediva23, she's been waiting for the new chapter for a while haha. _Hope you enjoy it!_**

Casey had just finished his tea and was beginning to start a new crossword puzzle when the recognisable buzz of the alarm went off.

"Truck 81 and Squad 3 required at 27 Vernon Park Place. House fire."

Alarm bells started ringing in Casey's head, taking over every sense and feeling with pure anxiety. Hadn't Dawson and Shay just gone there? He shot a glance at Severide across the table, both faces plastered with concern, and they leaped from the table to run over to their vehicles.

"Mouch, lets get going!" Casey shouted after observing that the firefighter still hadn't left the couch. He could see that Cruz and Otis understood what was going on — the familiar look of unease in his co-workers' eyes gave him the reassurance of support.

Casey threw open the fire truck door and started the engine, waiting for the rest of his men to climb into the back. The pressing idea of Dawson in danger enveloped his head; he knew how seconds could be the difference between life and death in fires. Casey pulled out of the firehouse and broke numerous speeding limits on the way to the house — he didn't care. Different scenarios began playing out in his head; what if Dawson and Shay hadn't gotten out of the building? What if they were trapped inside? ...What if Dawson was already dead? Tears began welling up in his eyes; afraid of what he might find when they arrived. Hermann, sitting next to him noticed Casey's distress and did his best to reassure him.

"Hey, Casey. There gonna be fine. They're probably not even in the house, alright?" Hermann rubbed Casey's shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry."

Casey wiped away his tears with one hand in embarrassment and coughed. "Thanks, Hermann." He tried his best just to focus on driving the truck and getting to them as soon as possible without his emotions interfering. His fellow firefighters had no idea about him and Dawson, how he felt about her... About how he messed it up last time. No one was expecting Casey to react so extremely to the minor chance of Dawson or Shay being in danger.

* * *

After what seemed like hours, they arrived at Vernon Park Place. Casey's eyes desperately darted around, hoping, wishing to see the paramedics outside somewhere, but couldn't find them.

In pure panic, Casey radioed Boden. "Chief, they're not outside. I'm going in." Casey had never been this reckless before, but he couldn't help it. Yes, he was directly disobeying his initial orders to wait for Squad to put out most of the fires before going inside, but he would do anything not to find Dawson's charred body inside.

"Casey, do not enter that house. Let Rescue Squad take care of it." Chief's urgency coming from the radio was washed away by the urgency in Casey's head. Casey didn't care if he got in trouble for this. He grabbed his helmet and rushed towards the burning building, breaking the door down with his shoulder.

"Casey! Wait!" He could hear Severide calling and running into the building after him.

The initial heat of the fires engulfing the house was more intense than anything Casey had ever experienced before, but his desperation to find Dawson took priority over everything else. He took a moment to adjust his vision to the orange fiery, raging flames before shouting out for the paramedics.

"Dawson, Shay! Call out!"

A wave of relief washed over him when he heard the familiar call of Shay.

"Casey, over here!"

Both Casey and Severide rushed towards the sound of her voice, but the lack of any sound from Dawson made Casey apprehensively anxious. After figuring out which room Shay was in, they ran in to see her lying straight down on the floor with tears streaming down her face.

"Help her!" Shay rasped miserably before releasing a strained cough.

Casey didn't need to be told what happened for him to realise what had happened to Dawson. He sprinted over to where Shay was lying and upon seeing Dawson, his heart broke into a million pieces. In front of him was Dawson's broken, battered body pinned under the slab of concrete.

Severide bolted over to the dizzy Shay, cautiously lifting her up and examining her face for any wounds.

"Shay, hey. We need to get you out of here, ok? The fire's spreading."

Shay, in protest, refused to leave Dawson.

"Listen, you need to be outside to treat her when she gets out — we'll do everything we can to save her." Severide carried the paramedic out of the room, much to her objection.

Casey stared into Dawson's fading eyes, feeling completely helpless. He pulled off his helmet, not interested in his own safety.

"Stay alive, Gabby. Stay alive for me." Casey said, his voice shaky.

Dawson smiled weakly, not thinking Casey would care this much about her.

"Hey, Matt. About time." Dawson joked before wincing in pain.

Casey returned a smile of solace, doing everything he could to give her a bit of hope.

"I promise we're going to get you out of here, ok?"

The image of Dawson in so much pain shattered Casey's heart. He would do absolutely anything for them to switch positions. Gabby was good, innocent. She didn't deserve this. He watched in torment as an incessant flow of thick blood trickled down her face, sticking to her beautiful hair and her perfect eyebrows. Staring at her face, he was completely oblivious of the raging fires surrounding them.

At Severide's return with a group of Rescue Squad members, Casey stood up to try and lift the concrete with their help.

Before they had a chance, Severide stopped them.

"Wait a minute!" Severide shouted in anguish and took a few seconds to examine the room's structure. Casey knew something was wrong when Severide's face creased with despair.

"The concrete's attached to that beam over there. You lift it even an inch and the roof collapses."

Casey stared in unnerving disbelief at Severide while he radioed Chief Boden.

"Chief, we're gonna need some help."


	4. Torture

**_A/N: I just realised how mean I've been to Dawson when she's in fact my favourite character. Sorry about that! If you think it's over, I have to disappoint you. _**

* * *

_She's trapped. She's dying. There's no way out of this. She won't survive._

"Dammit Casey! We need to extinguish these fires before we can sort out what to do, you gotta help me!" Severide snapped Casey out of his state of shock, but their natural rivalry got the better of them once again.

"Severide, we don't have the time. She's being crushed by concrete as we speak for Christ's sake!" Casey retaliated at Severide, not wanting to take any chances. "We get her out first, then we extinguish the fires. There's no other way."

Severide clearly disagreed, but the tension between the two firefighters diffused when Boden radioed Severide agreeing with Casey.

"Casey's right. Severide, go and get the Jaws. It's the only chance we have of preventing the roof from collapsing. The rest of Squad, start trying to extinguish the fires with Truck 81. Start from the front and work your way back. Casey, make sure you look after Dawson. Check how she's doing and keep me updated."

The team acknowledged the authority. Severide ran back outside with his Squad while Casey knelt down to check on Dawson. Every time he looked at her he felt his heart tear open a little bit more. Thankfully, she was still mildly conscious, but she was falling fast; her eyelids were slowly fluttering and he could see her become paler by the second. Casey become increasingly worried, watching her die right in front of him like this was sickening. Then her eyes flickered shut and Casey's heart stopped.

"Gabby? ...Gabby!" Casey felt tears prick the back of his eyes, and a tear rolled down his cheek. Seconds went by, feeling like hours.

"Gabby, wake up. Please... I can't lose you."

Relief immersed Casey when he finally saw the paramedic's eyes gently reopen, revealing her once beautiful captivating chocolate coloured irises that had now become dull and lifeless.

"Don't do that to me again." Casey whispered, so afraid of what might happen at any moment.

She weakly chuckled before grimacing in pain again. She knew she wasn't going to make it. Her whole body felt cold and empty; the only thing she could feel was the ceaseless pain all over and the coppery taste of blood rising in her mouth. She felt it trickle through her teeth and down her chin but did her best to appear to be fine, not wanting to alarm Casey. It clearly didn't work.

"Chief, we gotta hurry up. Dawson's fading fast, the internal bleeding's getting worse." Casey radioed, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him.

Dawson had never expected Casey to care so much about her. Seeing him cry right in front of her was such an abnormal sight — he was always the strong level-headed one. The only other time she'd seen him break down like this was... when Hallie died.

* * *

Severide finally came racing back into the scorching house with the Jaws of Life.

"Hey Capp, I'm gonna need your help." Severide radioed to the other Rescue Squad member, who soon jogged over.

"We need to prop open that side of the concrete and use the Jaws to lift the other side so we can slide Dawson out without collapsing the roof." Severide pointed towards the end of the slab. "Casey, you stay there. This is gonna hurt for Dawson."

The Squad got to work while Casey reached to hold Dawson's outstretched bloodied hand, hoping to be a source of comfort.

"Just get past this, ok? Just get past this." Casey begged, wishing for this to just all be over, just to end her suffering.

"Ready?" Severide issued a word of warning, uneasy at the idea of causing Dawson pain in order to save her.

Casey nodded at Severide, knowing it was the only way.

Slowly Severide and Capp pulled apart the handles of the Jaws to create a small gap, doing their best to ignore the raw screams of pain from their co-worker. Dawson felt the white-hot agony searing her entire body; less pressure from the concrete was on her but the pain from her wounds grew with the newfound release of the heaviness.

Casey clutched her hand harder and watched as tears of despair fell down her face, longing for the screams to stop. He wiped away his own tears as they began to blur his vision. It was absolute torture for the both of them. As the concrete weight was lifted off of her, Dawson coughed out a surge of crimson blood, the pain entirely engulfing her.

"Capp! We need a gurney, stat."

The Squad member ran off and returned seconds later, gurney in hand. Dawson cried in excruciation as Casey and Severide cautiously pulled Dawson out from the underneath the concrete and slid her onto the gurney. Only now could Casey see the full extent of her injuries — she had a noticeable broken leg and a large, deep abrasion covering most of her abdomen that had cut through her clothes from where the concrete had collided with her. Probably several broken ribs and plenty of internal bleeding too.

"Chief, we're heading out." Severide radioed out. "Make sure Shay's ready to treat Dawson, she's in bad shape."

All Dawson could see as she was being carried outside was the sheer brightness of the sky and blurring figures and faces all around her. She heard muted words attempting to reassure her that she would be okay, but none of which she could really focus on. Everything had become vague and hazy, and it took everything out of Dawson to try to stay awake. But it was too much — the pain was too much. She slipped out of consciousness.

* * *

With the confirmation of Boden, Shay wanted to get Dawson to the hospital as soon as possible.

"Severide, drive the ambulance to Lakeshore. Casey, get in the back with me." She wasted no time to try to save Dawson.

The firefighters obediently followed Shay's instruction and soon they were on their way.

Shay, holding back tears for her best friend's life, checked Dawson's pulse.

"Irregular heartbeat. Matt, hand me the beta blocker syringe over there." Shay ordered, pointing to a small table on the other side of the ambulance.

"Here." Casey passed her the syringe, wiping away tears, his emotions finally catching up with him. "What does it do?"

"Speeds up her heart rate, it's too slow and weak." Shay muttered, entirely focused on the job at hand.

She grabbed the syringe and held it over Dawson's exposed arm, her hands trembling with anxiety. Slowly, she injected the medication into Dawson's bloodstream and used her stethoscope to listen to her heartbeat, praying to hear an improvement. To her horror, she heard nothing.


	5. Losing A Friend

_**A/N: OK, I wanted to explore more of Shay's vulnerability and Casey's protective instinct in this chapter, so hopefully that comes through. Enjoy!**_

Shay felt a pit of panic in her gut. This couldn't be happening, this could never be happening. Dawson was the paramedic in charge, the lifesaver, the hero... The friend. And now her life was in Shay's hands.

"Severide, how much longer?!" Shay shouted in desperation.

"Couple of minutes tops!" Severide shouted back, completely unaware of what was going on.

A couple of minutes was too long.

"Casey, get the defib!" Shay barked in frustration while hastily wiping away tears, finally feeling the enormous amount of pressure on her. It didn't take a genius to know how slim Dawson's chances were — she'd been a house explosion, trapped under three tonnes of concrete for at least half an hour, and has now stopped breathing. It would take a miracle.

Casey passed Shay the defibrillator in a state of pure fear; he never thought it would get this bad, get this serious... Dawson was the one who saved lives. She wasn't meant to be the one whose life had to be saved herself. All he could think about was the idea of life without her. If Dawson dies, he'll never be able to see her face again, or look at her across the firehouse kitchen longer than he should. Look after her when something goes wrong. Kiss those lips. ...Tell her the truth.

She's lying there, dead on the table right in front of him. Only Shay can bring her back now. He felt completely helpless to save the woman he loved.

* * *

Shay set up the defibrillator just like how she learnt in her EMT training.

_Just turn it on, insert the cables, attach the pads. It's simple. She's just another patient._

Thoughts raced through Shay's head as she tried to forget about her best friend and just focus on her heart.

_Just get it beating again. That's all you need to do._

"Charging to 200!" Shay cried, as if looking for some sort of voice of guidance to tell her whether what she was doing was correct.

"Clear!"

Shay and Casey watched in anxious hope, tears streaming down both of their faces, as Dawson's body convulsed violently from the electricity running through her. Shay grew more and more distressed when the monitor didn't register any new heartbeats, knowing that Dawson's chances significantly decreased with every failed shock.

"Charging to 300!"

_Come on Gabby. Don't do this._

"Clear!"

_Don't give up._

Empty silence followed, and the anticipating tension was overwhelming.

"Severide! How much longer?" Shay cried, trying her best to stay as professional and strong as possible.

"We're almost there, it's the next street!"

_There's nothing I can do. I can't save her._

"Charging to 350!" Shay became frantic, knowing every second counted.

"Clear!"

Another series of volts attacked Dawson's body, forcing her to jerk uncontrollably.

Nothing.

Shay began to crumble, realising it was over. None of her and Dawson's patients had ever survived past three shocks.

Casey and Shay only realised they had arrived at Lakeshore when a small group of A&E nurses threw open the ambulance doors and began to lift the gurney from Shay's grasp, shouting different things at each other.

"Tried to 350, no response." Shay muttered in anguish while leaving the ambulance with Casey and running alongside them, unable to comprehend the idea of Dawson's life being in the hands of anyone but her. Then the nurses, and Dawson, left.

* * *

Everything had become a blur to Casey; he completely fell apart. His legs gave way and he slumped against the hospital wall, eyes dry from tears. The cracks in Casey's hard shell were finally showing. Shay did her best to try and console him, but her own sobs weren't exactly comforting.

"She'll be ok." Shay said, deliberately lying to see if she could convince herself that Dawson was a fighter and would make it.

* * *

Severide ran through the hospital doors from the ambulance driver's seat.

"What happened back there?" he inquired. Being entirely focused on just driving the ambulance as fast as possible, he had been kept in the dark of what happened to Dawson. He knew it was bad — he had never seen Casey or Shay in such a state even close to this.

After a long silence, Shay eventually replied.

"She stopped breathing. I couldn't start it again." Shay whispered.

Saying it out loud, it sounded even worse... It sounded real. A new wave of emotions engulfed Shay as Severide went over to hug her, knowing how she felt. He knew what it was like to lose a friend and blame yourself over it. Hell, Casey probably still hadn't fully forgiven him for Darden's death.

To his surprise, Severide found tears stinging in his eyes; he absolutely hated seeing Shay in such grief, but he also didn't think he cared so much about Dawson. She had been holding the house together through all of their problems - Darden's death, Hallie, and... The arsonist. A sudden rage rose up in Severide's throat when he realised how that was the only way Shay and Dawson could have ended up in that house fire. Hadley had stepped over the line.

"Casey. I need to talk to you." Severide uttered through gritted teeth.

Casey didn't move. He didn't even look up.

"Casey! Now!"

"Severide, he's in shock for Christ's sake." Shay muttered gloomily to her roommate.

"I don't give a crap! Don't you get it?! Hadley did this. He's practically killed Dawson with his own fucking bare hands!"

Severide's sudden outburst took Shay completely aback; they hadn't even considered the idea that someone had targeted her and Dawson - she was too preoccupied with trying to treat Dawson. It hurt her to know that what Severide was saying made sense. Hadley had worked with them for years before he left - how could he have tried to kill his old friends?!

Shay was smart enough to know that everything had already happened and participating in some personal vendetta wouldn't bring Dawson back anytime soon. Pure hatred, however, overwhelmed Casey. The concept of someone ever wanting to hurt someone so much that they'd go to these lengths were crazy. And to hurt Dawson, the innocent paramedic, the woman he loved, was even more insane. Hadley used Dawson as a means to an end. Used her to hurt Firehouse 51 and everyone in it. I guess it worked.


End file.
